A warm blend of memoir, poetry, and Christian spirituality for dog owners.
Retired English professor Miller converses with God while walking her pet in this prayer journal.
After the author adopted a beagle from an animal shelter, she started taking progressively longer walks with him. The four walks per day with Sam-Elliot (as she called him) provided her with opportunities for meditation that she’d never experienced before; she appreciated the beauty of nature, thought about her day, and asked God for guidance. In this work, she shares her insights with readers: “As all of us, you included, walk together, I invite you to join me and others to read sriptures, meditate, pray, reflect, and act on your faith.” This book is not a daily or weekly prayer journal, but rather a free-wheeling collection of short essays about various pets, Bible passages, and poems, with occasional spaces for readers to complete prompts or exercises related to prayer: “Think of activities or occasions that bring you special joy…..What about them brings you joy? Is God present at these events? Do you thank God for these blessings in your life?” In chapters organized around various stages of a dog walk (“Out the Door,” “Down the Alley,” and “Heading Home,” among others), Miller’s prose is soothing and encouraging. Her poetry, however, assumes a more formal rhythm and diction: “In God’s lush garden we are plants, / Free to grow and bloom. / We savor love that our Lord grants, / Spread blossom’s sweet perfume.” The hodgepodge approach means that not every item will appeal to everyone, although Christian readers who particularly enjoy dogs and poetry, of course, will most appreciate the whole package. Miller’s warm personality effectively knits the various pieces together, and it makes for a reading experience that’s both cheerful and seriously religious.
A warm blend of memoir, poetry, and Christian spirituality for dog owners.Pub Date: May 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-973628-53-8
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf